The World's Largest Solar Thermal Plant Is Not Only Already Outdated, It's Also Wreaking Havoc On Pilots

We recently told you why the world's largest solar thermal plant, in Death Valley, Calif., is already irrelevant: The world is moving away from centralized, industrial-scale facilities and toward distributed photovoltaics — aka rooftop panels.

Now, the Daily Caller reports that pilots are complaining of a blinding glare coming off the site's 3,500 acres' worth of mirrors:

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) got two anonymous complaints in August that mentioned a “blinding glare” coming from the Ivanpah solar facility. One complaint came from a Los Angeles air traffic controller and the other from a small transport plane pilot hat took off from an airport in Boulder City, Nevada.

Ivanpah went live only last month, and the FAA told the Daily Caller it is exploring the problem. The expense — the plant cost $2.2 billion — of creating giant fields of mirrors is part of the reason why the world is moving away from solar thermal, so this likely won't be a problem in the future.